Sleep disorders have recently become the focus of a growing number of physicians. Sleep disorders include obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea, complex sleep apnea, snoring, restless leg syndrome (RLS), periodic limb movement (PLM), sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and related neurological and physiological events or conditions occurring during sleep. Many hospitals and clinics have established sleep laboratories (sleep labs) to diagnose and treat sleep disorders. In the sleep laboratories, practitioners use instrumentation to monitor and record a patient's sleep states, stages and behaviors during sleep. Practitioners rely on these recordings to diagnose patients and prescribe proper therapies.
A goal of addressing sleep disorders is to help a person sleep better. Another goal of addressing sleep disorders is to help a person live longer. It is well known that various undesirable behaviors often occur during sleep such as snoring, apneas, abnormal breathing, Bruxism (teeth clenching and grinding) and the like. It is further known that these disorders and other undesirable behaviors can not only lead to insufficient amounts of sleep or fatigue but are also linked to co-morbidities such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiac diseases, stroke and SIDS, all of which can lead to a pre-mature death. Serious efforts are being made to reduce or eliminate these undesirable disorders and behaviors in part because of these co-morbidity concerns.
Various stimulation controllers/systems are available in the art for altering undesirable behavior during sleep. These controllers/systems may be used to control a stimulation device. U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,733 to Testerman et al. discloses “[a] method for treating obstructive sleep apnea in a patient by electrical stimulation of muscles in the upper airway.” In U.S. Pat. No. 7,115,097 to Johnson, “[a] notification system monitors changes in air flow channeled between a positive air pressure generator and a CPAP mask supplying positive airway pressure to a patient during treatment of sleep apnea.” In U.S. Pat. No. 6,544,199 to Morris, “[a] system is provided for monitoring an undesired behavioral disorder such as Bruxism, jaw clenching, or snoring.” In another example, U.S. Patent Publication No. US2006/0145878 to Lehrman et al. discloses “[a] System and method for treating obstructive sleep apnea by terminating an obstructive sleep apnea event before the cessation of breathing occurs.”
It is well known that several states of sleep exist and involve varying levels of consciousness. It is further well known that the beneficial effects of sleep improve when it is uninterrupted. To the extent that the above controllers/systems and associated stimulation devices alter a patient's sleep state or in a worst-case scenario actually awaken a patient, the devices have gone too far. While they may have stopped the undesirable behavior, they have neither helped a person sleep better nor have they helped a person to live longer.